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Avarakkai Kootu and Thakali Thayir Pachadi

Hope you all had a great Diwali. For us this year, for 2 reasons it was a very sober occasion without any spark. Yeah, first we could not light crackers here, as we do in India. Even if we could have celebrated, we shouldn't have, because of a condolence in the family, that being the second reason! So, Diwali went by without any event, though we had a nice dinner party in a friend's place.

Coming to our dish for today, post-festival always calls for simple, comfort food to ease the tummies that were loaded with all types of sweets and savories. So, I made this simple Avarakkai kootu, with a pachadi to complement it. I have added a bit more Dal than I usually do, because V likes it that way. And tomato raitha is the best combination for this kootu. I suggest serving this combo with rice, a spoon of dal mixed with the rice and a dollop of ghee!

How to do:1. Wash and cook the dal with a pinch of turmeric powder. Mash well and set aside.
2. In a vessel, take the chopped avarakkai and add enough water to cover it. Add a pinch of salt, cover and cook for 5 to 6 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, grind together coconut, cumin and red chillies with little water into a paste.
4. When avarakkai is cooked, add the ground paste, salt and reduce the flame.
5. In about 3 or 4 minutes, the raw smell of coconut and red chillies will start to leave. Then add the mashed dal, bring to a boil and remove from the flame.
6. In a seasoning wok, heat a tbsp. of oil, add mustard, followed by split urad dal, asafoetida and curry leaves. Add this to the kootu.

Variations:1. Both toor dal and moong dal will taste good for this kootu. For a change, you can also try adding half of each dal.
2. Replace red chillies with green chillies for an enhanced taste and flavor.
3. To save time, you can also pressure-cook the avarakkai.

How to do:1. Chop the tomatoes fine and de-seed it. Add it to the yoghurt along with some salt.
2. Heat oil and add the ingredients for tempering. When they are done, add it to the yoghurt and mix well.

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1. I am a very friendly person and a non-stop chatter box. It is sometimes hard to put up with my rants and raves! ;)
2. Photography, Mehndi designing are my passions, next to cooking.
3. The best thing that has happened to me till date is my darling hubby! Touchwood! :)
4. My parents are my best friends. Being the only daughter doesn't mean I am a spoilt brat, but I have all the love of my parents for myself.
5. My passion for cooking has developed only recently; precisely after I became a full-time homemaker. Until then, I loved to eat but never ventured anything other than sambar, rasam and poriyal.
6. Books give me the best company. I love to read as much as I can. Sidney Sheldon and Dan Brown are my favorite writers.
7. I am a freaky Shop-oholic! Love to shop till drop! I am trying hard to curb this obsession. :D
So if you have reached till here, thanks for bearing my lengthy post. Happy Cooking and happy blogging!!

Hey Rohini, Congrats and thanks for sharing the award with me. You know what, after reading your tag, I know we will hit it off right away, in fact I could just copy paste those things in my blog, except for the Mehendi and photography :)

great combination.My daughter loves this kootu ver much. i to make it in the same way and for the pachidi,i just saute the tomatoes for 2 mins.both looks very great.thank u so much for sharing the award with me.

Congrats on Kreativ blogger! Aamam latest Dan brown padichchaachchaa? I'm waiting for the paper back version, hard cover is very expensive here:(Sorry to hear about no spark deepavali, but nonetheless may the cheers stay with you forever.Very nice kootu and thayir pachchidi.

This looks absolutely scrumptious. You have quite the recieps here...love them. I shall return. Sorry about your loss....

Congrats on the award. I stopped by to actually ask...as I see on your comments on 'kitchen queen' that if you can notify her...I did try to leave a comment there too but could not...something with her verification area on the posting. Can you let her know that I tried? You seem to have access. Best of wishes sent your way.